The tenderhearted 9/11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is at times extremely touching and incredibly moving. Unfortunately, at other times, it also is fairly flawed and slightly disappointing.

Thomas Horn stars as a boy on a quest in the 9/11 drama 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.'

Part of the problem isn't necessarily the film's fault: Expectations inevitably are set unfairly high when you've got a Murderers' Row of a cast that includes the likes of Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright and John Goodman. When you add in the slam-dunk drama of the subject matter -- the story is about a sweet, emotionally wounded 9-year-old amateur adventurer on a quest for closure to his father's death in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- those expectations go even higher, leaving exceedingly little room for error.

But there indeed are errors here, starting with the fact that the film's many touching moments are offset by at least as many contrivances. In addition, although actor Thomas Horn physically fits the bill to play young, wayward Oskar -- he's slight, he's awkward, he's got a soft sweetness about him -- he doesn't quite have the chops yet to carry a film such as this.

That's a major problem since, despite the talent in the grown-up cast, this movie is about Oskar. Tom Hanks' father figure is seen only in flashbacks. Bullocks, playing Oskar's mom, is mostly a background player until the third act. Von Sydow plays a significant part as Oskar's adventuring partner, but he only comes in midway through the second act -- and when he does, his mute character never says a word. Von Sydow does a yeoman's job in the role, wordlessly guiding Oskar along on his quest, though it's not quite enough to save director Stephen Daldry's ("The Hours," "Billy Elliot") film.

At least Oskar is an interesting character. He's an exceedingly bright boy, but he's quirky, too. He's scared of talking with strangers, for starters. He's scared of a lot of things, in fact: "Tall things, loud things, people with bad teeth, dogs without owners, children without parents, ringing things -- bridges especially make me panic." So he carries around a tambourine, which he rattles to help calm himself in moments of stress.

"I got tested once to see if I had Asperger's disease," he reveals at one point. "The tests weren't definitive."

As we learn through flashbacks, Oskar's father devised a game to help the boy with his social anxiety. He would send Oskar on quests around their native New York City. These quests would involve maps and clues and fantastical stories -- as well as contact with other people. So in addition to being mentally engaging, Oskar's dad hoped they would break down some of the boy's internal barriers.

Then the Twin Towers came down, and everything changed for Oskar.

Everything, that is, except his taste for adventure. So when he finds a mysterious key in his father's closet a year after the attacks, he's sure it's intended as the start to one last quest engineered by his father. And at the end? Maybe a message. Maybe a sign. Anything to help him make sense of it all.

The one clue: On the envelope containing the key is scrawled a single word: "Black." Oskar assumes it's a name, which leaves him with only one choice: to visit all 472 Blacks listed in the phone book. Of course, calling them would have made much more sense, but that's the sort of strained device Daldry's film relies upon.

So Oskar hits the road every Saturday -- without ever telling his grieving mother what he's up to. The resulting adventure is sweet at times, and funny at others, despite the ever-present sense of melancholy in which it is all draped. All along, though, I was struck by an even stronger feeling, that I was sitting in on somebody else's therapy session.

That's not a comfortable feeling -- and that makes "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" considerably less rewarding than it should be.

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EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE2.5 stars, out of 4

Snapshot: A drama about a 9-year-old boy who sets out on a New York City quest to solve a riddle he believes was left behind by his father, who was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.

What works: It's a moving story, built on moments of real, stirring emotion.

What doesn't: The film's many touching moments are offset by at least as many contrivances.